There can't be a Harvest Moon in the RimWorld.

Burnett paused for a moment: "Ten years old, I guess."

A ten-year-old child, bearing the price of his entire family's lives, survived alone in the wilderness.

Are there any other family members?

Burnett shook his head: "Back then, besides my parents, I also had a three-year-old brother. When my parents worked in the smelting factory, I would take my brother to play in front of our house and do some petty theft on the side. We would wait for my parents to come home from work every day and bring back coarse black bread and synthetic food. The family would eat until we were half full under the kerosene lamp and then squeeze together to sleep on the hard bed."

"That day, my parents said my younger brother was too small and couldn't be separated from them. They also said I was already an adult and needed to take care of myself."

Tears slowly streamed down his face.

"After waking up, I returned to my old home—the whole city was in ruins, and that simple prefab house couldn't possibly have survived. I sat there for a day, imagining myself still in that foggy, smoky city, imagining the bustling crowds at the intersection, and my parents appearing among the people leaving work in the evening, their tired faces beaming with joy, hugging my brother and me tightly..."

I stared silently at the man before me, and it seemed as if I could see a small figure peeled off from him, his body and face covered in dirty oil stains, his face showing a wary yet timid expression as he looked at the pedestrians on the roadside.

"Are you afraid of dying?" I asked.

Burnett fell silent, staring fixedly at the four dead men before him.

I know he wasn't really afraid of death; he was just like an ignorant child, afraid to die without his parents' permission. To live on was not only the old village chief's instruction to him in his imagination, but also the advice his parents had given him with their lives.

When the cost of survival is too heavy, people are less likely to choose suicide. But when life is too easy, people may want to take the lives of others. There's a scene in Gu Long's novels where two cooks, after a long day's work, take a break and cook a few dishes and have a couple of drinks. This moment of ease is precisely what keeps them clinging to life.

Is it ridiculous?

maybe.

“You don’t know why you’re living.” I cut to the chase. “You want to live for others, but they have their own reasons for living. You want to live for yourself, but you don’t know what you’re living for. Maybe you think this is a movie, but you’re afraid you won’t see the ending, so you live aimlessly.”

Burnett sat there and said softly, "If I had met you, boss, earlier, would things have been different?"

I shook my head: "Unless I go back to Shisong Manor with you and stay there to protect everything, this is bound to happen."

"Wouldn't that work?" Burnett countered.

I still shook my head: "I will not passively accept exploitation. You may become pawns, soldiers, or sacrifices, and then die meaninglessly in some battle."

Burnett said incredulously, "Boss Zoffy... what are you going to do?"

"I want to save people."

My eyes were filled with growing emotions, like a volcano about to erupt. "I don't know who to save, but there are always people on this land who are worth saving."

“But…is it okay to bleed?” Burnett asked uncertainly.

I countered with, "If you can intentionally kill someone to relieve their suffering, is your intention good or evil? If someone kills another to relieve their own suffering, is that person good or evil?"

Burnett was speechless for a moment, staring at the curved knife flowing with blood on the ground, his hands gripping the earth tightly: "I don't know why I did this... The village chief and the villagers are probably watching me with tears of blood, aren't they?"

I pointed to the empty space in front of him. "I don't know if you can see it or not, but I saw it in my dream. If you don't do some things, you'll never have a clear understanding."

I shouted towards the house, "Baldy, have you had enough of listening? Come out and recite what I taught you, the secret method for listening to the voice of the mind!"

The bald man, wrapped in his clothes, stepped out of the house and walked into the freezing night. His voice trembled slightly from the cold as he slowly recited:

"When Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva was practicing the profound Prajnaparamita, he perceived that the five aggregates are all empty, and thus transcended all suffering and distress. Shariputra, form is not different from emptiness, emptiness is not different from form... Shariputra, all dharmas are empty in nature, neither arising nor ceasing, neither defiled nor pure, neither increasing nor decreasing..."

His recitation was intermittent, and he often mispronounced words or changed his pronunciation due to his lack of familiarity with the language, but his devout demeanor was as if he had undergone hundreds of rehearsals, showing no sign of disrespect.

"...It can remove all suffering, truly and without falsehood. Therefore, the Prajnaparamita mantra is recited, namely: Gate Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha."

Chapter 318 Heading North

"Boss, why do you want me to memorize the whole thing when I still don't understand the secret you taught me? Is it even going to work?" The bald man asked, riding his camel and bumping along behind me.

"We teach you to memorize the whole text first and then try to understand it. I'm already being generous by not making you write a 20,000-word reflection. Have you understood the central idea, highlighted the key sentences, and read the whole text aloud thirty times with feeling?"

"...What does that mean?"

On a whim, I taught the bald man the Heart Sutra, and I made it clear that it wasn't because his hairstyle reminded me of Tang Sanzang. But his memory surprised me; he memorized a completely incomprehensible language in one night and could recite it quite fluently, then began trying to interpret it word by word.

Before me now stretches a vast expanse of yellow sand, accompanied by the boundless Gobi Desert. This bald man and I are already on our way to the loader's headquarters, chatting idly.

"Boss, can you tell me what this phrase, 'Form is not different from emptiness,' means?"

"Form is not different from emptiness... which means that the material world you see is actually your spiritual world."

"Then is emptiness not different from form?"

"Conversely, your spiritual world is what you perceive as the material world."

"Form is emptiness, emptiness is form?"

"The material world is the spiritual world, and the spiritual world is also the material world. The two originate from one and form the world you see."

The bald man was stunned upon hearing this, as if he were looking at the lines on his hand, trying to discern them one by one. "So what I did was driven by my heart and influenced by external factors. Everything was a combination of internal and external causes, a destiny predetermined?"

I sighed and said, “Your understanding makes a nihilistic mistake. Although the strong try to change the world and the weak adapt to reality, in reality, all of this depends on internal and external factors. Even a pig can fly if it's standing in the right place at the right time, but that doesn't mean the pig is a flying expert. What you think of as riding the waves might just be an illusion caused by being in the right place at the right time. The same goes for what humans call feelings, thoughts, behaviors, and understanding.”

"Boss, didn't you say this was the secret to listening to your inner voice? Why have you been telling people not to listen to, not to look at, and not to believe anything? The more I listen, the more confused I get, and my head is starting to hurt."

I patiently explained, "No, actually what you see is already a result of pollution and obstruction. The more you see, the more obstacles there are between perception and knowledge, which in turn affects your understanding of the truth."

How did I suddenly end up in the field of Buddhist studies? Is it because this journey is too similar to Xuanzang's pilgrimage to the West?

"In fact, all knowledge is not knowledge, but merely a hollow spiritual illusion of humankind. The real world neither comes into existence nor perishes. It is neither stained by dust nor needs to be cleansed. Nothing is added to or subtracted from it. In the real world, there is no concept of matter, and naturally, there is no human perception, thought, behavior, or knowledge of the material world."

I turned to look at the bald man's gleaming forehead. "So, humans are born of human mothers, demons are born of demon mothers, and emperors are always born of strange things... Oh no, if a demon has compassion, it's no longer a demon, but a human-demon..."

"Boss...stop reading!" The bald man grabbed the reins and ran two hundred meters away, then covered his ears and said, his face full of pain, "What do you mean by 'true' and 'false'? I don't understand a word of it!"

I waved with a smile: "Don't be so resistant if you don't understand. Come here, I'll just ask you one last question... What's your mother's last name?"

"Ah..." The bald man rode his camel at breakneck speed and disappeared into the desert.

Doesn't the bald guy realize he's annoying too? If I hadn't annoyed him with all this tangled mess of stuff, I'd be the one who suddenly commits suicide.

With peace and quiet, I followed the footprints left by the bald man and continued to move forward at a leisurely pace.

The raiders came to my tavern, not only losing their lives but also leaving behind many useful items. For example, five large dromedary camels, water bags for storing water during desert travel, marching rations, a simple compass, and a map, all of which can be used for this long journey.

It was the guarantee of food and drink that gave me the confidence to complete this desolate road.

We are currently in the Riegomi scrub desert in the southern hemisphere of this planet.

This seemingly desolate area is actually located in the southern part of the Miam Desert, which stretches across the entire continent. The Miam Desert, this continental desert, is a true no-man's-land, where the highest temperature in its center consistently exceeds 70 degrees Celsius, enough to scorch any living thing on the surface.

The Riegomi shrub desert is located right next to the ocean, which allows it to thrive thanks to the sea breezes, supporting a small number of shrubs and maintaining this precious habitable area.

Limited by resources, this Liegemi scrub desert is indeed located on the edge of civilization and at the center of savagery; only three factions are willing to establish themselves here.

The Godslayer Pirates were the first to establish a colony along the bay – Sabre Bay – and used it as a base to carry out both plundering and trading.

And the Andenavara faction followed suit. Their caravans had been attacked repeatedly in the region, and they finally hardened their hearts by sending their most ruthless leader, vowing to establish a foothold in the desert and curb the pirates' activities. So far, it seems he has indeed achieved his goal, as the Loader's Leader is now Sabre Bay's number one enemy.

The strongholds of these two forces are adjacent to each other, both located north of my tavern, at the intersection of the trade routes.

Finally, according to Burnett, at the southernmost point of the trade route, there lived a tribe of barbarians from the Cedar Clan, who relied on the barren land for their harvests and their fearless plundering, and had long been stationed in the southernmost part of the desert, gazing at the shadow of the desert.

At this point in the conversation, the two locals in front of me looked on with envy, saying how wonderful it would be to live on the Brega Plain.

Brega Plains is located near the Tropic of Cancer on the planet. It is rich in rainfall and biodiversity, with fertile land and tall trees everywhere. Some areas have even become swampy areas, extending eastward to Smenron Forest. It is a paradise of life, and the core of various factions are all within this area.

Of course, the struggle between them was exceptionally fierce. But what they meant was that those seeking refuge were merely mortals, while those seeking peace envied the ghosts of Jiangnan; even dying on the Brega plain was better than lingering on in the Rigohermian scrub desert.

In fact, in the southeast of the mainland, near the Tropic of Capricorn, there is a large flat area called the Blue Hermit Crab Grassland. It is said to be named because the unique vegetation there appears blue from a distance, and the shape of the grassland resembles a crab with its claws outstretched.

But Burnett said he would never set foot there.

Because the area is covered in grasslands, it is the private territory of the planet's native tribes. Civilized tribes and savage tribes have been fighting for years, so fiercely that other forces don't even have a chance to land. Those tribes that only know how to use bows, arrows, javelins, and simple firearms are far more ferocious than the Native Americans. And even the civilized tribes among them are simply more willing to trade with outsiders.

Chapter 319 The City Walls Are in Sight

After one sunrise and sunset, I finally caught up with the bald man who had been running away and saw him standing by a bush, seemingly waiting for me.

"Boss, we're almost at the Loader's Territory, why are you moving so slowly?"

I casually urged the wild camel to come over slowly: "Wearing more clothes makes you walk slower. That makes perfect sense, doesn't it?"

"What's that big bundle you're carrying, boss? It looks like the camel is sinking to one side..."

I patted the bundle on the camel's back. "It's just some luggage. It's always good to bring some gifts when traveling. It would be impolite to come empty-handed. That makes perfect sense, doesn't it?"

I leaned forward and looked into the distance for a moment: "You said we're almost at the Loader's Headquarters? Are there any precautions?"

The bald man nodded helplessly: "Boss, I really don't know why you came all this way. What's the difference between coming here rashly and courting death?"

“I have my reasons. Burnett is on the kill list and he deals with this town all the time, so I can’t exactly bring him along. After thinking about it, you’re the only one who knows the way. What’s wrong? Not planning to go back to being a blacksmith’s apprentice?”

The bald man shook his head: "There's no going back. My current identity is ostensibly that of a town resident, but I'm actually a deserter. If the disappearance of the Fourth Patrol goes unnoticed, it will eventually fall on me, and by then it will be too late to run. I was originally planning to stay in the tavern and live under an assumed name..."

"Aren't you considering visiting your family?"

“My parents died in the plague eight years ago. Only the blacksmith is still taking care of me. But if I go back, I will only implicate him. It’s better not to look for him anymore.”

Orphaned, raised by a master, homeless, and then encountering a master—isn't this the protagonist's template? Usually, this master would be severely injured or poisoned, and would pass on hundreds of years of internal energy and martial arts to him. Afterward, he would return to the martial world and wreak havoc. Isn't this the correct script?

Unfortunately, I am not a mountain hermit waiting to die, nor do I have hundreds of years of internal energy. The only thing I can pass on to him is a secret to listening to the voice of the heart. Oh, it is the Guanyin Heart Sutra. If he can read the Guanyin Heart Sutra and achieve the same effect as the Nine Yin Manual, then I can totally become his disciple!

"Enough with the nonsense," I said with a laugh.

The bald man said helplessly, "Didn't you ask me this, boss? Let's talk about our plans to go into the city."

He gestured as he spoke to me, “Boss, on this trip, I’ll be myself, and you’ll play the role of a traveling merchant who gets robbed on the road and wants to go to town for help. The town’s chamber of commerce leaders usually meet with these industry friends, and you can take the opportunity to find out what you want.”

"The Chamber of Commerce leader is the town's standing councilor. There's nothing that can be hidden from him, and this should be our only chance. After the meeting, remember to find a way to break things off, don't ask for any investment, and leave town with me immediately—that's the only way we won't be followed. Those who tried to swindle him out of his money have all been killed in the wilderness."

"Understood. Pretend to be robbed, go to their door for help, negotiations fail, and then leave in anger."

I took notes of the process and summarized it with confidence.

The bald man nodded in satisfaction: "That's right. With your demeanor and conversation, boss, you'll definitely be able to fool the people in town. We can just run away and there won't be any trouble later. Sigh, heaven knows why I'm worrying about this!"

…………

What is the size of a town with a thousand inhabitants?

In my mind, a thousand men seemed to be a very small unit. For example, in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a thousand-man squad was basically just a vanguard or scout, only able to fight and run, unable to make any waves. If a general didn't have thirty to fifty thousand men, he would be embarrassed to greet people.

Although the commander of the loader's headquarters wasn't large, it was still at the level of a regional lord. He commanded only a little over a thousand subjects, which seemed small, but in reality, it was a considerable number in this wasteland. The images of massive armies pressing in on television only depicted a thousand-strong force; the true scale of tens of thousands was indistinguishable to the naked eye.

After walking for a while, I saw a stone wall stretching in the distance. It was divided into three layers, neatly arranged in a staggered pattern, with yellow mud filling the middle. After being exposed to the scorching sun of the wasteland, it looked rough and reliable, just like the surrounding dry land.

This three-meter-high wall has firmly secured this territory, creating a tenacious stance of being three-tenths buried underground, completely disregarding future development and expansion. From this perspective, its initial purpose was to establish it as a military fortress.